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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29275578">The lies of dusk</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/persephx/pseuds/persephx'>persephx</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(again literally), (literally), (suki and sokka), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Can I make it more obvious?, Established Relationship, Idiots in Love, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Slow To Update, Sokka is a King, Suki is a queen, Totally different world, bi Suki, bi sokka, bi zuko, zuko is a guard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 04:00:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,983</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29275578</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/persephx/pseuds/persephx</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sokka and Suki are the King and the Queen of the Southern Kingdom. Zuko is their personal guard. In a fight against his own feelings and his own idiocy, will he ever be brave enough to tell them he loves them?</p><p>- kinda inspired by <a href="https://twitter.com/yamielsun/status/1352375853095809024?s=21">this tweet</a>.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aang/Katara (Avatar), Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Sokka/Suki/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Suki/Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>49</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The lies of dusk</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I could not resist, lol. If you like zukka, I have another fic that will probably be updated more often: <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28775862/chapters/70564761">Just before she closes her eyes</a>. It's a zukka fake-dating fic :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Zuko stayed in his post as Sokka walked around the room saying hello and cracking jokes with the people he came across. Suki was talking with Ty Lee, who was gesturing animatedly. Ty Lee had been to the Southern Kingdom multiple times with her circus, and she always made a show of embarrassing Zuko and mentioning with “ex-girlfriend” Mai. Mai hadn’t really been a girlfriend, they’d just been kids and dumb and they had held hands like twice. They still talked sometimes, only through letters and only sporadically. Zuko still considered her a close friend.</p><p>That night was an important night for the Kingdom. A party, in remembrance of the King and Queen anniversary. Sokka was tipsy and Suki already had rosy cheeks. Zuko didn’t want to think about how the night would end, with them <em>celebrating</em> and him alone in his room. He sighed but kept his attention in them. If he was an assassin wanting to break the kingdom’s peace, he would do it that night.</p><p>“Zukoooooo,” he heard a voice slurring.</p><p>It was the King, of course. He turned his face to the right and saw Sokka there, leaning against a wall. He had red cheeks and shiny eyes and his wolf tail was sloppy and he looked adorable. He had a mostly empty cup of red wine in his hand.</p><p>“Your Majesty,” he answered, scanning the room for a moment. Suki was still speaking with Ty Lee, and they were now both looking at them. Zuko tilted his head and they both giggled and muttered something. Zuko turned to look at Sokka again. “Is there a problem?” he asked professionally.</p><p>“Yeah, oh my guard,” Sokka answered mockingly, as he always did when Zuko tried to be <em>respectful</em> and <em>professional</em>. Zuko rolled his eyes at him and Sokka punched him in the arm with more force than he would have if he had been sober. “You’re so stiff I would be able to use you as a table.”</p><p>That was not a mental image that Zuko needed if he was being honest. <em>You’re sick</em>, the voice in his mind told him. And he did not need that kind of negativity in his mind, so he just ignored it.</p><p>“I’m on duty,” he mumbled, turning his gaze back to the room.</p><p>He heard Sokka sigh dramatically. “You should relax. You make me feel like an incompetent idiot who needs a babysitter. Have a drink. Talk to someone. Or even just sit for a second.”</p><p>Zuko resisted rolling his eyes again.</p><p>“You’re the King. And you’re drunk. A toddler could come into the room and assassinate you.” It was probably not true. Sokka was an amazing swordsman, and, even though he was not a bender, he was a good fighter. Even drunk, he would probably be able to fend for himself. That, however, didn’t mean that Zuko could slack off. If anything happened to the King —to his best friend— when he was on duty, he would never forgive himself. And if he also took that opportunity to tease him, that was Zuko’s business.</p><p>Sokka grumbled something about a grumpy cat and stumbled off to talk with Suki and Ty Lee. Zuko’s heart clenched when he saw Sokka and Suki greet each other with a kiss. Suki grabbed Sokka’s hand and he brought it up to his mouth to also kiss it. Zuko would have turn away if he could.</p><p>The rest of the night evolved as expected. There was no trouble except that time when a drunk emissary stumbled into the snack table and stuff fell down. Sokka had laughed and, instead of making the guy feel embarrassed, he’d gotten him to laugh as well at the crushed mini pies.</p><p>Suki had also approached him at some point and offered him a smile and a small cherry tart. He had looked at her blankly, as if he hadn’t been feeling his stomach grumble for the last half hour.</p><p>“I know how long these things can feel,” she said.</p><p>Zuko never really forgot about her past as a Kyoshi warrior, but sometimes he forgot about what that entailed. It was impossible for Zuko to forget that Suki had been a Kyoshi warrior. On one hand, the warriors spent at least a few months a year in the kingdom, and they always made a point of making a festivity of visiting their old commander. There was also the fact that Suki sometimes wore her face paint and her uniform when she trained. Sometimes Sokka too, which just killed Zuko every time. And her fans always accompanied her. Even in the fanciest events. The same way his space sword always accompanied Sokka. The southern kings were always armed and deadly, and they always went everywhere with Zuko, who was always down to keep them safe.</p><p>“I don’t—” Suki only needed one stern look to convince him. He didn’t roll his eyes at her, but he made a big gesture out of taking the tart. “Yum,” he muttered sarcastically.</p><p>“Fila’s baking. You know, she’s got a bright future in the kitchens.”</p><p>Zuko snorted and almost choked. “Yeah, with that husband of yours, anyone who cooks well has a bright future,” he teased. Suki laughed and shrugged, conceding him his point.</p><p>“It also helps that she’s a nice girl,” Suki commented, not being as nonchalant as she seemed to be trying to. Zuko looked at her, confused, and Suki was looking at him as if she was expecting an answer.</p><p>Zuko hadn’t talked with Fila that much, considering she’d only been in the castle a few months, but the few times they’d talked, she’d been nothing but nice.</p><p>He cleared his throat and let his gaze go back to where Sokka was charming a group of people from the neighboring kingdom. He was telling a story, judging from his exaggerated movements, and he had all of their attention. It was impressive how well he managed to become the center of attention so easily. And how well he dealt with it. Zuko would crumble under that pressure, for sure.</p><p>He wondered what Suki was planning and why exactly did he want to know his opinion on Fila. Maybe she’d had a problem with her? It didn’t seem likely that Suki would go to him in this way, but he couldn’t think of anything else.</p><p>“She’s a nice girl,” he ended up saying.</p><p>Suki made a happy noise with the back of her throat. “She really is! And a good baker.” Zuko, not less confused, nodded.</p><p>Eventually, Suki had to go back to her party and Zuko had to go back to his guarding. She said goodbye and promised to bring more tarts when she could scape the emissaries. True to her word, she brought one more cherry tart, and even sent Sokka with a third.</p><p>“Suki says Fila made these, delicious, huh?”</p><p>Zuko hummed.</p><p>“Nice girl.”</p><p>There was something going with those two, and Zuko wasn’t sure if he wanted to find out what it was or if it was just easier to stay out of their way.</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>When the night finally ended —as the sun was showing its head through the windows— Zuko walked Sokka and Suki to their room with to guards walking three steps in front of them. The married couple was holding hands and mostly holding each other up and, every few steps, they stopped and shared a kiss or a caress. And, again, it was hell to watch.</p><p>Zuko hadn’t always been aware of his crush on Sokka, but he was sure it had always been there. He had been an angsty teen. Angstier than he was now. It was difficult for him when he had first gotten into the Southern Kingdom, with only Iroh as company, half of his face burnt, and his honor completely destroyed. Iroh had been enough of a noble that the King himself had been interested in hosting him. King Hakoda had opened the castle doors for them and had encouraged his kids to befriend the new, pathetic kid. Katara had refused, in the beginning, refusing to befriend someone from the kingdom responsible for her mother’s death. Sokka did not feel the same. He had basically stalked Zuko for weeks until the other one had finally yelled at him to leave him alone. He had, fortunately, ignored him. Sokka found Zuko and talked to him every day. And, with time and patience, Zuko had started to talk too. They’d become friends, and then best friends.</p><p>Zuko had been thirteen and he had known what crushes were, but he hadn’t connected the dots until he’d been fifteen and overwhelmed with Sokka’s cuteness when he’d caught a cold. Back during the beginning of their friendship, Zuko had started to be impressed by basically everything that Sokka did. Then, he’d grown insecure about their friendship. Then, he’d grown possessive. And then, he’d forced himself to look at some girls like other boys his age were doing it. And then Sokka had been sick and he’d looked absolutely horrible, and he’d been whiny and annoying, and Zuko had been worried to death. And then, one night, as Zuko looked over his friend and made sure he drank his tea, Sokka had looked at him with half-closed eyes and a pathetic twist to his mouth. ‘Come cuddle’ he had moaned, half asleep ‘I’m cold’. Sokka had fell asleep immediately after saying that. Zuko <em>hadn’t</em> gotten into the bed to cuddle with him, but he had stayed in the room all night, heart beating fast and loud and hands trembling. Things had been much clearer after that.</p><p>He was now twenty-four, and his stupid crush was still there. He’d learnt to live with it, though. He’d learnt to deal with the ache that came when Suki and Sokka acted like a couple —which was very often, considering they were married and in love. He’d have little hope that his feelings would be reciprocated from the beginning, so he’d grown accustomed to ignoring it and continuing with his life. When he’d learnt that Sokka was going to get married at nineteen, he’d let himself cry for a long night and only that. Suki had been around before that, just a couple of times, but she’d been friendly to both boys, and Zuko couldn’t bring himself to hate her even if he tried. The engagement had lasted two years and, when the wedding finally came to be, Zuko had been genuinely smiling. His friend was happy, so that was enough.</p><p>Nobody knew about his feelings, well, except Ty Lee, who apparently knew everything, but she had sworn she wouldn’t tell a soul, not even Mai. He believed her, but there was still a dull whisper in the back of his mind always saying that if anyone found out about what was happening, he would be removed from the castle.</p><p>“Good night, Zuko” Sokka said, pulling him from his thoughts.</p><p>Suki giggled, probably at his startled face. “Night night,” she said too.</p><p>Zuko bowed his head in their direction, ignoring their groans. “Good night, Your Majesties. Sleep well.”</p><p>“And who are you to boss us around?” Sokka mumbled as he was being pulled into the room by his wife. After the doors closed, him and the guards heard some mutters and a loud laugh coming from Sokka.</p><p>Zuko turned to the guards. “Make sure King Sokka is ready for the council meeting.”</p><p>The guards, Kiana and Joh, nodded at him. They’d all trained for the positions together and they knew how close he and the king were so they didn’t question the fact that Sokka would be completely hungover.</p><p>“Good night, Zuko” Kiana said.</p><p>He nodded again and turned to leave.</p><p>Before he got too far, he started hearing the moans. He started walking faster, trying to get away from the pain between his ribs. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Follow me on <a href="https://persephx.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a>!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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